Cracks
by Awdures
Summary: They're a world away from home, the Chaos Emeralds scattered and it's Sonic's fault. Isn't it? Knuckles isn't sure and Eggman's interference isn't helping.
1. Chapter 1

**Sonic-ish canon being what it is here's your "version of reality" note... And it's Sonic X more or elss entirely but potched with a certain amount to account a bit better for Knuckles acting like a fool so often!**

* * *

Knuckles stretched comfortably and rolled over onto a cooler piece of grass. Briefly he considered getting up moving around to the shadier side of the temple, but the heat of the long, sunny day was already starting to fade and he was way too content where he was to move that far.

He opened his eyes a fraction, turning his head so his gaze fell naturally up the steep steps of the shrine to rest on the Master Emerald at the top, secure and glittering in the low evening sun. He watched the play of light on it and from it, the cool colours a contrast with the warm, red-tinged sunlight.

The Island was still. Warm. Empty.

His eyes drifted shut again. Not in sleepiness - he was alert in every sense for any change in the state of the Island or Emerald - but in the utter relaxation that came from _knowing_ in every sense that all was well.

And then it wasn't.

Knuckles was on his feet before his next intake of breath but then froze.

There was nothing to be heard, not even a leaf moved in the silent evening. Nothing to be seen but the Island itself, bathed in the orange colours and long shadows of approaching sunset.

Yet _something_ was wrong.

He stood frozen a split second longer then turned and sprinted to the top of the Emerald altar, taking the steps two and three at a time. The Master Emerald looked as serene as ever, the green-blue glow spilling around the platform, making it easy to forget the sun was almost down.

Knuckles reached out a hand to it, trailed it across the surface and maintained the contact, letting his hand slide behind him as he turned, looking again from this higher vantage point for the threat he had sensed.

Nothing.

Knuckles paced around the Master Emerald, the shadows of the sunward pillars that ringed it casting dark bars across the circular platform. He looked up at them. Seven pillars. Seven Chaos Emeralds had sat atop them once.

Something about that caught at his attention and he was long enough used to listening to instinct to let his attention settle where it would.

Chaos Emeralds.

If there was no danger _here_ then was the danger he had sensed a problem with the Chaos Emeralds?

He turned back to the Master Emerald, stared into it. On rare occasions he had seen images there, perhaps some clearer warning than this vague unease would come.

He'd thought it an improbable hope but the reality was that an image formed so vividly and so suddenly that he stumbled backwards. Lights in the darkness, harsh artificial lights shining on the steel and concrete of harsh industrial buildings and watchtowers. Flashes of light were unmistakeably weapons fire and then more lights, seven lights, seven colours and growing brighter and brighter until he had to close his eyes.

When he opened them the image was gone and the island's course had changed. He let it change, let it move through the sky. He had little doubt that the base he had seen was their destination, and none at all that it was Eggman's.

He considered. An attack had been happening and there was only one person was even remotely likely to attack an Eggman base.

"Sonic," he muttered. And either Sonic, or Eggman, or both was messing about with Chaos Emeralds.

Knuckles scowled, uncertain of his next move and annoyed by the uncertainty.

It had been dark in the image. Was that because he'd been given a glimpse ahead, or because the base was so far eastwards that the sun was already down? He couldn't tell.

Was it his problem what Sonic was up to?

But there were Chaos Emeralds involved. Whatever was happening was dangerous, and Sonic almost certainly didn't know _how_ dangerous. Eggman probably _did_ know but quite possibly didn't care.

But if the danger was the Chaos Emeralds then leaving the Island and Master Emerald might just be the worst possible thing he could do. Frustrated and confused, Knuckles turned away then back to stare at the green glow, brighter still now the sun was all the way down.

No guidance came and after a moment more he sighed and headed to the edge of the Island, running then waiting, facing the direction of travel as the sky darkened.

"If this is your fault, Sonic, I'll knock you into next week," he promised thin air as he went.

When the floodlit tower came into view on the eastern horizon he recognised it at once. It hadn't been so far away after all. Lights flashed erratically, trouble was already in progress and it got closer, it on the edge of hearing were sirens and blasts and the shriek of an engine running well beyond its limits.

Knuckles sighed again, cast about once more for some good reason not to do this, but the sense of growing danger was even greater now than it had been earlier. Chaos Energy skittered through the night air like invisible lightning. Whatever was happening in the base needed to stop.

He launched himself from the Island's edge and his last thought as his feet left familiar ground was a command to send the Island far and safely away. Whatever was going on, he couldn't risk adding the Master Emerald into the mix.

He glided through the dark sky unnoticed by the combatants below, appreciating the few minutes it gave him to form some sort of overview. Tails' biplane was visible, diving and twisting over the perimeter of the base. Further in, a whirl of blue, gold ring-light flashing off spinning spines, ricocheting from wall to robot to fence, could only be Sonic. Knuckles turned in the air looking for the most effective spot to join them.

Sonic hadn't found a way in yet, so ideally he'd intercept the hedgehog near the tower itself which seemed to be the hedgehog's target. Perhaps fists and force would provide an entrance where speed had not.

Before he'd made up his mind for certain and altered his glide, a bang from below made him twist in the air to look. Tails' plane was trailing smoke, losing height. Knuckles glanced back at Sonic's position. Tails was good at forced landings, as well he should be after the number he'd had. He'd be fine.

But when Knuckles looked down again the aircraft was heading straight for the biggest obstacle in sight, an outcrop of rock, rising from the flat ground like a watchtower itself. From Knuckles' vantage point Tails didn't even seem to be trying to manoeuvre to avoid it. Or couldn't.

Abandoning the idea of catching up with Sonic, Knuckles plunged for it. With enough momentum he could perhaps knock the aircraft aside - still risky but better than a head on collision. In the last seconds he got a proper look at the rock itself, weathered sandstone, and just maybe frangible enough at this speed.

He reached out for the Master Emerald, still close, pulled the energy tightly around him, hoping it would be enough to avoid turning himself into a smear against the stone if it was harder than he'd guessed and hurtled into it fists first and a split second ahead of the aircraft.

The outcrop shattered instantly, so easily in fact that his momentum carried him tumbling past the aircraft and rolling twice on the ground before regaining his feet at the bottom of a small rise.

"Knuckles!" Tails cried. Knuckles couldn't work out if that cry was more happy or shocked to see him and only grunted in reply. Amy was with Tails as well but they'd be no further use with a smashed aircraft and he himself had missed his chance to catch up with Sonic. He climbed the rise and looked back at the tower, the base of it now surrounded by smoke. Sonic was now out of sight so had presumably found a way in. But if it had taken all this, then the odds of getting in after him seemed slim, even if they made up the distance.

As he watched another explosion split the air. Sonic causing havoc by smashing equipment or Eggman firing on his own constructions in an attempt to stop him? Either seemed equally possible. Knuckles shook his head.

"Overkill," he said aloud, unsure even in his own mind whether he meant Sonic or Eggman. "Just like always."

Tail and Amy had made it out of the aircraft and scrambled up the rise on hands and knees to stare at the destruction occurring on the other side of the broad valley base. He ignored them, focussed on what was happening inside because _something_ was. Something more dangerous than explosions or robots or laser weapons.

He stood rigid, arms crossed across his chest, frowning in concentration and frustrated unease.

Before he'd worked it out it was already too late. He felt it before he saw it, that bright fierce energy lighting the sky.

"What is that?" Amy sounded awed.

"It _used_ to be chaos control," Knuckles said. Shock and frustration made him sarcastic and he couldn't keep it from his voice even in the face of Amy's worry, because now it was just _chaos_.

Sonic must have disrupted whatever Eggman was doing because this was in no way a controlled reaction. Perhaps the hedgehog had got his hands some of the Emeralds but if that was so he clearly had no idea what he was doing with them and this was the result.

The light spread like an oncoming wave. It would certainly do the job of wiping out the base and Sonic seemed to have sufficient affinity for the energy that he'd probably even walk away, as Knuckles himself was confident of doing, but even so, it was too much.

Knuckles realised too late that he should have told Amy and Tails to run and as the energy reached them, they both started forward instead of away, presumably intending to look for Sonic in the midst of it all. Knuckles grabbed Amy's wrist and pulled her back because going further in there now was madness, but Tails had shot upwards as well as forward and he missed him.

But something was wrong. Knuckles had never lived outside the influence of the Master Emerald, he lived and breathed chaos energy and this reaction beat against his senses like a runaway pulse, like panic. It was even more out of control than he'd thought, still growing, still building, the power cresting and cresting and still not quite breaking.

Was it possible the hedgehog or Eggman really had all seven? Could it be deliberate? Surely no one would be that stupid?

But someone had and it was happening.

If he'd realised a moment or two sooner perhaps he could have stopped it. If he'd been beside the Master Emerald, had hands on it, guiding, calling, instead of being here on this hillside perhaps he could have still. He reached for it anyway, and it was a calm eye in the maelstrom of energy but there was no mastering this. The energy spiked and thrashed, whiplashing back and forth along the bonds between the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, the world, him.

He'd lost sight of Tails, Amy was crying out names in a panic, Sonic's, Tails', his own, but he couldn't make a sound in answer, transfixed, he was being shaken to death in the teeth of the gale, shattered into pieces by the fearful resonance of the energy. It was too much. Too much, and something would break, something would give.

Something did. And it was sky itself. Torn open to the void and the world was replaced by pain and light and the howling, shrieking Emeralds.


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark and still and cold. There was silence for a split second until Amy's voice broke it.

"Knuckles, wake up! Come on. Please! Wake up."

He forced his eyes open but it didn't help much. It was still dark, and his senses were cloudy. Dazzled and deafened, and an aching, freezing pain had settled deep inside, sapping at his strength. He must be injured and the panic in Amy's voice said it was badly.

"Knuckles!" Amy leaned over him. "Are you hurt?"

"Yes." There was no point in hiding it. He was flat on his back after all. If anything attacked them he'd be of no help. Amy could fight but she needed to know she might have to.

"Where?" Amy drew back, looking him over. "I can't see what's the matter. Can you sit up?"

Sit? He could barely move. Barely think. How had Amy escaped so unscathed? The explosion of energy had been so violent it seemed impossible any of them were alive. The Emeralds had been shrieking, surging, tearing at the Master Emerald's energy as well as their own as they scattered.

The Master Emerald!

He reached for it in sudden alarm, and kept reaching and reaching because it was so distant, so faint and far. His breath caught in a gasp, almost a cry.

"Knuckles!" Amy leaned in again, worried, but Knuckles ignored her, hung onto that faint whisper of familiarity. That was why Amy was unharmed, she was right, he wasn't physically injured at all, this was something else.

Where in all the skies could that malformed chaos control have sent them? How far away must they to be to reduce what he'd thought an unshakeable bond with the Master Emerald to this tattered thread? He closed his eyes again, let himself lie limp, all his thought on maintaining that contact, feeling his way along it, testing and touching and trying to acclimatise himself to the change because he couldn't just lie here and hope someone else fixed it, got them back, got _him_ back where he belonged.

It was faint, he realised, but it was stable, not weakening, not fading. There. Present. Resonating slightly with the backwash and aftermath of the incident, but calming. Slowly he pulled himself together. Opened his eyes again.

"Knuckles!"

His head was still ringing, he could have done without the shouting but he managed an answer.

"I'm all right." If it wasn't quite true yet, it was getting closer. He sat up slowly.

"You said you weren't!" Amy's tone was almost petulant but Knuckles thought he was probably right in guessing that was only worry.

"Well, I've been better," he allowed, considering whether or not to try for standing up. The surface beneath him was cold, damp stone and leeching his body heat away, so he tried.

"So what happened?" Amy watched him but surprisingly had the tact not to try and help. "Where are we?"

Knuckles stood, cautiously. "Believe me, I wish I knew."

"And the others?" Amy's voice wobbled as she asked but Knuckles could only shrug.

"I don't know." After a moment he added. "They're probably not hurt. They can't be any worse off than we are. But they might be anywhere."

Not much comfort maybe but at least it got both their minds on the practical task of finding out where they were.

Knuckles looked around.

"It's just an alley," Amy said, "We're in a city."

"Yes." Knuckles looked up. The light was artificial, smearing the night sky orange. And the buildings were tall, blotting out most of that sky.

"Which one?" he asked Amy, "Do you know?"

He shook his head the moment the words left his mouth. No, she didn't. She'd already asked him where they were, hadn't she? He was still confused. But Amy had already gone to the mouth of the alley to look. After a moment she spun and ran back.

"You've got to see this yourself!"

Knuckles frowned at her but followed. Keeping close to the building, in the shadows where the overhead streetlight didn't reach, he looked out. Despite the dark, the street was busy, vehicles and people moved everywhere, perhaps it was a winter evening and still early. But it wasn't the city or the traffic that had so startled Amy. It was the humans. Crowding the street, driving the vehicles, everywhere. He and Amy were the only people in sight who _weren't_ human.

He withdrew back into the alley, saw his own shock mirrored in Amy's wide eyed alarm. He hadn't known there were so many humans in the whole world.

Amy shook her head. "Where _are_ we?" she murmured.

"I don't know." Knuckles shook his head. "But we should stay out of sight." He headed further down the alley, looking for another way out.

"How?" Amy asked. "It's packed out there."

Knuckles looked up at the tall building in case the roofs were a possible route. Ladders switchbacked down the side of the building, emergency escapes perhaps.

He glanced down and his eyes lit on a circular metal plate - a trapdoor? He crouched down and pried it open.

Amy came to stand over his shoulder.

"Seriously? I think that's a sewer."

Knuckles was less interested in its purpose than the fact there was a ladder. It was meant to be used. Which might mean it was in use. He looked up, thinking about the rooftop route again. But there were so many people and so much light. If underground was possible then it was safer.

"Are you really thinking of going down there?" Amy asked.

"Yes." Knuckles reached for the ladder. "It's that or the roof. Unless you want to go introduce yourself to that lot out there."

Am glanced back at the street. "The whole species can't be like Eggman."

Knuckles shrugged. "Well those are the choices. The street, the roof, or down here."

"I think I prefer the roof," Amy said.

Knuckles nodded, stepped onto the ladder and started down into the possible sewer. "Okay. Good luck."

Amy stared at him open mouthed. "That's not what I meant! I didn't mean we should split up!"

Knuckles paused. He knew Amy even less than he knew Sonic or Tails but she seemed honestly surprised at the idea they shouldn't stay together to search.

"The cover to this hole hadn't been open in a long time. So it doesn't get used much. It's safer." That was a guess and honesty compelled him to add, "Probably."

Amy made a face. "Urgh. If you say so. All right."

She stepped closer and looked down the hole past him. "Lead on."

* * *

They'd walked the rest of the night and well into the morning, although only the sound of the traffic dying off to nothing then starting back up to a steady drone gave them any clue of this in the dark, damp tunnels.

Amy talked on and off. Mainly about what could have happened and where the others could be. Knuckles was mostly silent though his thoughts were on the same thing. He had no answers, no more information than Amy except to know that wherever they were it was a _long_ way from home.

He was more tired than he could account for with one night's lost sleep and knew it could only be due to the unnatural tension in his link with the Master Emerald. A tension that was more than distance, that was _displacement_. A wrongness that gnawed away at both his energy and his nerves until when Amy started up again about how important it was they find Sonic, it was the last straw to tip him over into temper.

"This whole thing is Sonic's fault!"

He should have known better. He didn't know Amy well, but he knew enough that he should have guessed she'd fly instantly to the other hedgehog's defence.

"All Sonic did was try and stop Eggman! He didn't mean for us to get sent here!"

Knuckles dismissed this at once. It was no excuse. Sonic didn't _mean_ to cause half the trouble he did, but starting a fight in a base full of Chaos Emeralds was stupidly dangerous whichever way you looked at it. Whatever Eggman had been doing, Sonic would have gone in full steam ahead, antagonising him even further. Always pushing it too far. Relying on luck, which this time hadn't been enough.

But of course as far as Amy was concerned that was just Sonic.

" _He's_ not afraid to fight back!" she snapped.

Knuckles scowled at the implied insult. It wasn't the first time he'd heard it. He knew where his duty lay and it was with the Master Emerald and the Floating Island and he knew that those occasions when he felt it better to keep them out of the conflict with Eggman laid him open to accusations of cowardice. Sonic threw it at him regularly - although at least as often with a smirk as with any heat.

Amy was _not_ laughing but Knuckles knew the difference between recklessness and courage.

"Sonic just likes getting into fights for kicks!" he shot back making Amy dig her heels in at once.

Frustrated, Knuckles strode on ahead. It was one to him whether she came or went, and he told her so though he'd thought she'd realised that back on the street. This argument was a waste of energy he didn't have and they were no closer to having any sort of plan.

After a moment though he heard her catching up and calling out.

"Hey, c'mon Knuckles! Don't be mad!"

He shook his head minutely but didn't attempt to shake her off. She was more like Sonic than she knew. And on some level any familiarity was welcome in the damp underside of this strange world.

They walked on and the day wore on.

The tunnels seemed endless but Knuckles was starting to identify a plan of sorts. They criss-crossed one another but always at right angles. A grid. It should be searchable. If the network served the whole city then it would be possible to walk it all without ever being seen.

He frowned. Would that be enough? Was there a chance he could walk right under a Chaos Emerald without even noticing. He didn't think so but he couldn't be sure. Couldn't be sure they had even landed anywhere close to where they had themselves. Perhaps it was even likelier that they hadn't.

He groaned under his breath, the more thought he gave it, the more impossible a task finding them again seemed.

Amy cut across his thoughts before he could go any further.

"Knuckles, can't we take a break?"

A break? All this to do and she wanted a _break_?

It didn't help that various parts of his hungry, thirsty and aching body heartily agreed with the suggestion. He shook his head though. "You take one if you want but I'm not stopping."

She dropped back to Knuckles' mild surprise - he was sure by now she'd rather have even his company than be alone here - and sure enough she caught up again quickly, her voice unnaturally cheery.

"So, what do you think our chances are of getting back home?"

In spite of his thoughts a moment earlier, he was not prepared to even entertain more than one possible answer to that question and answered at once.

"We'll get back."

"How can we?"

He couldn't tell if the question was curious or doubtful so he answered as honestly as he could.

"I don't know but we will." Then before she could ask another, he'd repeated himself, as though saying it again could bring it closer. "Somehow, we will."

The alternative was unthinkable. No matter what it took, he had to get back. The thought of the Master Emerald exposed, unguarded, alone, was unbearable. Hard even to think about and close to painful in physical reality. Worse by far than the footsore ache which said 'rest'.

He tried to explain but he didn't think he'd really convinced her before they were interrupted by what felt like an earthquake.

"What's that?"

Was there any chance at all it was a similar reaction to the one that had sent them here, that meant they were close to one or more of the Chaos Emeralds? He couldn't sense anything but he was so tired and confused maybe that didn't mean much. Hope alone sent him running for the nearest ladder and up onto the street to find out, Amy close at his heels.

It was crushing disappointment to find only another Eggman robot and for long minutes Knuckles only stared at it, almost oblivious to the shouting and havoc around them, the crowds of staring humans – who were at least too occupied to wonder about the sudden appearance of himself and Amy in their midst.

Then Amy shoved his shoulder and pointed.

"Tails is in trouble! We've got to find a way to help him!"

Knuckles stared at the diving biplane, clearly piloted by the little fox. He had promised himself no sidetracks no distractions and here was distraction right in his path.

"I've got more important things to do."

The words were out before he could stop himself, before he could moderate the frustration and discomfort and borderline exhaustion into something better. More honourable. They were true words. He knew it in his bones - the Emeralds were more dangerous than any robot, more important than any one individual. Even so, the words sounded wrong somehow and he'd perhaps have taken them back if he'd had longer to think.

But Amy only gave him a moment, her face hardening as she stared at him.

"Fine! Who needs you!"

For a split second Knuckles thought this too would be a bluff but she was off and running towards the building under attack and he found his next words equally unchosen.

"Don't go in there! Amy! Stop!"

She didn't stop and Knuckles cursed under his breath. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't decide, couldn't think it through. He sighed so hard it came out closer to a growl and let himself react instead. And unthinking reaction took him in the same direction.

He missed Amy as she vanished behind automatic doors presumably containing a lift or elevator and cast about for another route. The emergency exit drew his eye and he hurtled up the stairwell, emerging back onto the roof where he hesitated glancing around from the robot to look for Amy who he appeared to have pipped to the fight after all. He needed a strategy. He had no qualms about taking on the robot regardless of the size of the thing but Tails up above and Amy somewhere behind him were unknown factors.

As though his thought had summoned it a door slid open from the building roof access and Amy appeared

Knuckles offered a wry smile, trying awkwardly to soften her anger at his initial reluctance. If they were fighting together there wasn't space for it.

"What took you so long?" he said, trying for humour.

Amy's response was only to launch herself past him and straight into the attack, hammer swinging, no strategy, no caution.

"Leave Tails alone!"

Knuckles saw the likely outcome a moment before Amy did – Tails had been firing on the robot for long minutes with no success, it was obviously heavily armoured.

"Don't do it, Amy!" He'd have explained further but she'd already swung, already staggered back wringing her hand and wrist, already been snatched up by the robot, already screamed.

Knuckles called back reassurance and launched himself forward on impulse, unsure whether he'd have any more success but out of other ideas.

He didn't find out whether it would have worked, as before he'd even landed a blow Eggman's pod had dived between them. This wouldn't normally have deterred Knuckles, the pod was not much of a threat but Eggman was smirking and in the line of fire that was unusual enough to give him pause.

"Hold it, knucklehead! One more step and the girl's a goner!"

Knuckles skidded to a stop as Amy cried out again.

"Knuckles!"

He glanced up at Amy, the robot, back at Eggman. Frustrated anger simmered over into empty threats.

"Leave her alone or you'll be sorry!"

He was too unused to this, too unused to having to look out for anyone else. If it had been Sonic up there he could have left him to his own devices to get free. Or at least convincingly sounded like he would consider it.

As it was, Eggman gave the threat about as much credence as it probably deserved.

"Sorry? I'm already sorry that you and your friends have survived." He looked around. "By consolation it that it seems Sonic didn't."

Knuckles saw Amy's face fall, but he didn't believe that, any more perhaps than Eggman did because he was already questioning it.

"Or did he? Perhaps this is all a trap!"

Knuckles doubted that too. Traps were not organised enough to be Sonic's style.

As if to confirm this Eggman was already shaking his head again.

"No… He's probably just off enjoying the fresh air of this lovely new world while you lot do his dirty work isn't he?"

Amy renewed her struggles at this.

"That's not true!"

"No? You don't think he got us all stranded here with his selfish thrill-seeking then went off on a runaround for the fun of it? We all know how reckless Sonic is..."

"No!"

"Hmm. Such sweet devotion." Eggman backed the pod away from her. "And what do you think, Knuckles? Do you think Sonic is remorsefully and meticulous searching this city for those Emeralds so he can undo the mess he caused when he attacked me to get his hands on them?"

"I…" Knuckles hesitated, glanced at Amy who glared back at him, clearly not anticipating an answer she wanted to hear, and indeed the mental image did entirely fail to form a convincing picture.

"How should I know what Sonic is doing!" he snapped instead of answering. He hated to give Eggman any satisfaction but it was true that careful, thoughtful searching was not remotely Sonic's style.

Turning up as though magnetically drawn to trouble though – that _was_. Knuckles looked past Eggman, up at Tails, saw him bank the wing, dive away from the attack and there could only be one reason.

Eggman realised it a split second later.

"There he is! Get ready to fire!"

The robot turned abruptly, releasing Amy with a careless toss. Knuckles leapt for her before she could go right over the edge and stood back to assess their options.

"Hurry!" Eggman was yelling. "Fire! Finally!"

The robot was not in fact as slow as Eggman's berating of it suggested of course but Sonic was to all appearances having the time of his life, skipping and jumping and – Knuckles stared at him incredulous – was that supposed to be _dancing_? In any case, none of the shots came near him except when he actively leapt aboard the tethered missiles the robot was firing every which way.

Knuckles turned to Amy, daring her _now_ to say Sonic didn't just get into fights for the fun of it. Didn't just enjoy antagonising the increasingly irate Eggman who was now shrieking at him.

"Wise guy! I'll show you!"

Knuckles shook his head minutely. Not this time he wouldn't. Even himself he was torn between amusement and exasperation at the hedgehog's antics, but it was getting past time to bring this to an end.

"Sonic!" he called. "Try the old slap on the wrist!" He knew Sonic would know what he meant. Any number of these robots had had the same flaw, the same over-focus on striking at Sonic at all costs, the same lack of self preservation.

Sonic grinned, clearly completely aware of the tactic and crouched smirking on one heavy missile as the robot drew it back in. He pulled a face, paused, gurning and laughing then leapt clear as the robot swung for him only to strike off its own weapon.

"Bye!" he called.

"Fire!" Eggman screeched and a volley of missiles from the undamaged chest launchers shot towards the laughing hedgehog.

It took only a split second before it was obvious that this too had failed. Sonic came spinning out of the smoke, still laughing, if anything only seeming to have _gained_ momentum in the blast.

It was enough. The robot disintegrated into fragments. Knuckles threw up his hands against the debris and blast, one in front of his face, one shielding Amy.

From the settling smoke, Eggman's pod rose but no one listened to his retreating volley of threats. Amy ducked round Knuckles and flung herself at Sonic shrieking in relief.

"Take it easy!" Sonic protested.

Knuckles watched bemused as Sonic, completely capable of taking down giant robots, now struggled to fend off one overexcited pink hedgehog, babbling about how she'd been afraid she'd never see him again.

"Amy, please! Let me go!"

Sonic's muffled complaints were abruptly cut short by the arrival of a squad of armed humans who looked, in Knuckles' opinion, distinctly ungrateful.

"All right, nobody move!" They levelled their weapons.

"Great! Now what?" Knuckles found it hard to be too impressed. Surely they'd just seen that shooting at Sonic didn't work?

"Don't try running away!"

That was too much. Run away? They'd just fought off the robot attacking a city that wasn't theirs and the residents' idea of gratitude was to point weapons and imply they'd flee? Knuckles glanced at the hedgehogs who didn't appear to have any more of an idea of what had brought this on.

Run? He picked his battles but he never ran from the fight that was in front of him. All of the frustration at not getting a crack at this robot at being forced to wait while Eggman tried to bargain with Amy's safety, at Sonic's antics and smirking confidence that the last minute was always good enough, drove a snarl between his teeth..

"Hey, easy, pal!" one of the humans said but anything else he might had added was cut off by the appearance of Tails' biplane diving over the roof, the little fox calling Sonic's name and trailing a rope ladder over the side.

Both hedgehogs caught hold, Sonic keeping a firm grip on Amy as they jumped.

Knuckles hesitated. What did they want, these humans? What did they know? Why would they come after them armed after seeing them attack the robot? Did they know about the Chaos Emeralds?

"Hey, Knuckles!" Sonic was calling. "C'mon!"

"Please, Knuckles!" Amy chimed in. "Let's go!"

Knuckles hesitated a moment longer but whatever the humans knew or thought of them he couldn't do much about it here and now. He ran after the others, leapt and caught the last rung of the ladder and was swept into the air.

"Get him!" From behind them he heard weaponsfire, but either they were very bad shots or they were afraid of bringing the aircraft down on the street, because nothing hit them.

Belatedly he realised Tails had a passenger and for some unfathomable reason it was a juvenile human, now cheerfully greeting them.

"We'll go back to my house, guys!"

"Cream and Cheese are already there waiting for us, " Tails added.

"Wow, them too?" Amy sounded delighted. "So we're all here together!"

Knuckles shook his head. Did she think this was a holiday? How could _any_ of their first thoughts be about where to stay and not where to start looking for the Chaos Emeralds and the way back? Or where Eggman was basing himself? Or what those humans had wanted?

"Count me out," he said. "This is where I get off."

He could search on his own, he worked better that way. And Sonic was always easy to find. He glanced up at the blue hedgehog whose faint smile and tiny shrug said he wasn't surprised in the slightest.

Knuckles let go of the ladder, hearing Amy protest.

"See you around."


	3. Chapter 3

Knuckles twisted in the air as he fell away below the Tornado, turning freefall into a controlled glide with a practised movement. There was a large park beneath him, woods, a lake, both odd things to find in this city which stretched as far as he could see, but there'd be cover there. Somewhere to rest, to forage, to collect his thoughts and revise his plan.

As he got lower he could see people walking in the open areas. Some looked up but their eyes were turned to the aircraft, not him. He headed for the trees, preferring to risk a minor collision than land in the open. He skimmed the topmost branches, choosing his moment to drop from his glide to snag one and swing himself round and down into the branches.

He paused where he was, crouched among the foliage, listening and watching. No one was in sight or earshot, no one seemed to have noticed him. The ground beneath the treetrunks was clear of undergrowth, no cover there, but on the upside no obvious paths either. There had been decorative flower beds once but they were overgrown now. A tangle of dandelions, goosegrass and the occasional stand of run-to-seed burdock. Knuckles smiled in relief. He'd been afraid this world would be too different for him to recognise plants but these at least were familiar and, more to the point, edible.

He dropped silently from his branch to the ground to gather them and find better cover. A tangled and ancient yew offered it and he climbed high into the branches, finding a spot secure enough to lay at length. He ate handfuls of the greens, though they were old now, past their best. He still wasn't sure of the time of year here. Not winter as he'd thought, the trees around him were all still in leaf, not just the evergreen in which he sat. The summer though was clearly well advanced.

He'd only assumed winter because there'd still been so much traffic on the street after dark, he'd assumed it was still early in the day. If people were routinely out and about so late into the night it would make it harder to search unobserved. He frowned and lay back. Resting until dark was the sensible thing to do regardless of rash promises he'd made to himself. He was thirsty, though the moisture in the plants had helped and the lake was also not really an option while crowded with picnicking humans. He closed his eyes, forced his mind as well as his body into rest.

It wasn't easy and, as automatically as his hand would have rubbed at an injury, his mind felt for the Master Emerald. He almost regretted it, the faintness and distance almost something tangible. But it was better than nothing, and eventually he slept.

The cooling night air woke him and he climbed higher in the branches to check the position of the moon but couldn't find it among the lights and tall buildings. Still low on the horizon perhaps – he was sure he hadn't slept the night through. He climbed swiftly to the ground and ran to the lake where he drank slowly, but deeply. He crouched on his haunches surveying the fringes of the park where it abruptly cut off back into concrete and brick and steel and glass. He thought about his view of it from the rooftop, from his glide. Thought about his search pattern. He could complete it, it wouldn't take long. He could move faster now after resting.

Neither Sonic nor Eggman had Chaos Emeralds during the fight, he was sure of that. Could he rule out the city entirely? Had they both already searched here? He shook his head. He'd like to, but he couldn't count on it. He rose to his feet and set out. If the Emeralds were here he'd find them.

He settled into a loping, easy run that he could maintain almost indefinitely and set out with every sense on alert to move as quickly and unobtrusively through this alien city as he could.

He found nothing but more of the same, high, dark buildings, streets that were finally almost empty, motionless vehicles, the occasional lit window or vehicle actually in motion that brought him to amazement that anyone was still awake and travelling. Once the lights of a helicopter somewhere above him sent him diving for cover. It stopped anyway and circled. Did they know he was there somehow? Night vision or heat vision, who knew what technology they had? He spotted another of the sewer covers and returned underground. There was no sign of the helicopter by the time he re-emerged and a steady, soaking rain had started.

He stood for a moment staring at the street, black and orange in the wet gleam of the streetlamps. Above him the pre-dawn grey spread across the narrow channel of sky visible even through the rain and between the canyon-like buildings. He stared up into the rain, trying to decide on his next move. There were no Chaos Emeralds here. Should he leave the city now? Before it got light? But to go where?

He was tired again, hungry and thirsty and something else as well, something that was a little like both and not exactly like either. The same sort of _wanting_ sensation except that what he was missing wasn't food or water but was somehow related to what he'd lost in being torn from the Master Emerald's world into this one. The combination was distracting. It made it hard to think, hard to choose a course of action and he found his footsteps taking him unthinkingly back to the park.

Perhaps that was no bad thing. He knew there were safe spots there, that there was water and, short of raiding the humans' shops or homes, the only food he'd found was there. Dawn was breaking and he'd be able to forage effectively before the humans started turning up. He couldn't live for long on just the plants there, not while searching for the Emeralds as well - it took way too long to gather enough for even one full meals' worth - but another day wouldn't do much harm.

He'd drunk as much as he could and was leaving the lake, heading back into the wooded area to get out of the rain, when an engine broke the silence. He glanced up, half expecting the return of the helicopter and prepared to head for cover or back out into the city and underground which seemed the only sure way of losing it.

It wasn't the helicopter though. Instead, Eggman's pod hovered down at him, the rain sizzling off some sort of forcefield above the open cockpit. He held his ground. He couldn't fight a whole planet of armed humans but Eggman he could handle.

"What do you want?" he demanded. Perhaps he should have already attacked first but in the absence of a direct threat it was energy he didn't feel like wasting.

Eggman grunted, looking away from Knuckles to something within the pod.

"Not you," he said irritably. "You just interfere."

Knuckles couldn't entirely make sense of this. Was he talking about the fight?

"You started it," he pointed out, edging warily around to the side of the pod to be at least slightly less in the line of fire. "Stuck here or not you didn't have to attack the place."

"What are you talking about?" Eggman snapped back. "I said you interfere." He jabbed at something out of sight. "With the equipment."

Knuckles shook his head, none the wiser. "What are you doing here?"

Eggman stared back at him as if this was the stupidest question he'd ever heard.

"Looking for Chaos Emeralds – what do you you _think_ I'm doing! But all I've found, it turns out, is _you_."

"I don't…"

"Understand?" Eggman finished. "Of course you don't. You've got no more grasp of science than that idiot hedgehog have you?" He pointed again inside the pod. "I can detect chaos energy from here. It should pick up the Emeralds, but so far all it's found in this city – is you."

"Oh." Knuckles looked down at his hands, curious in spite of himself.

"It's extremely irritating," Eggman added.

Knuckles snorted. Eggman's problems were a million miles from being his concern.

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Eggman surveyed him. "Speaking of disappointment… You look like you've had a rough night yourself."

His voice was a mock-sympathetic sneer and Knuckles flicked wet, bedraggled spines out of his face and glared back. "Not your business."

"No," Eggman allowed. "I suppose not. But we do both want the same thing."

"The Chaos Emeralds." Knuckles prepared to assure Eggman that he'd be getting nowhere near them if he, Knuckles, had anything to do with it, when he was brought up short by Eggman's interruption.

"To get back."

Knuckles closed his mouth again, eyeing him suspiciously.

"To get home," Eggman elaborated and the mocking tone had gone from his voice. "You must have realised that if we could gather all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, there's a fighting chance that we can somehow reverse the effect that sent us to this world."

Knuckles nodded, reluctantly - he'd been counting on exactly that.

"Do you think that's what Sonic wants as well?"

Knuckles frowned. "Why wouldn't he?"

Eggman shrugged, unconvincingly. "You tell me. He's your buddy not mine." Knuckles' reflex protest at the term was drowned out as Eggman continued at once. "I'm just telling you what I see. You want to know how Sonic spent _his_ first night on this world?"

"How can you know that?" Knuckles glanced at the overcast sky as he spoke. Somewhere behind the cloud it was actually dawn. Time was trickling away along with his opportunity to collect food before the humans turned up, although perhaps not many would come to the park in the rain.

Eggman had pressed something within the pod and a projected image appeared in the air, distorted somewhat by the rain but clear enough. A tinny speaker relayed the sound that went along with it.

Sonic, smirking on a dark street illuminated by the lights of oncoming vehicles.

"This is camera footage from one of the law enforcement agencies on this world." Eggman explained unasked.

Knuckles ignored him, watching. On the projection Sonic laughed and, even over the poor sound quality his complete unconcern carried over.

"Oh no." Fake and unconvincing despair. "How will I ever escape?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes at this display as the picture burred into speed – the camera itself presumably mounted on either driver or vehicle which had just accelerated at the hedgehog. There was a jump or cut in the footage and the next image was the appearance of Sonic's head, upside down, leaning into the camera and still laughing, riding atop the attacking vehicle.

Knuckles found he could emphasise entirely with the driver's frustrated response.

"Hey you! This is dangerous!"

The picture snapped off.

"Doesn't _look_ like he's too unhappy at being stuck here does he?" Eggman remarked.

The picture flicked back on for long enough to see Sonic leap back to the road ahead of his pursuers only to spin round on the spot and start pacing backwards, grinning and waving.

"It's playing with us!" came the outraged protest over the speakers.

"Turn it off," Knuckles snapped. "That's enough."

"No," Eggman said. "It's not. Not quite. Weren't you curious why their forces attacked you even though you were clearly - although _accidentally_ \- on their side in the matter of my robot?"

"No." Knuckles said, on principle, although Eggman clearly knew it for the transparent lie it was because he carried straight on, pressing a button to change the picture again.

The cars that had been chasing Sonic skidded to an ungainly emergency halt and the picture changed again. Sonic scuffled with uniformed officers before taking off in a run once again. Traffic swerving and crashing to avoid him.

"He's not making the best of first impressions is he?" Eggman remarked. "I don't suppose having the law on your tails - excuse the expression - is going to make tracking down those Emeralds any easier is it?"

Knuckles realised his fists were clenched and looked away from the projection. Why could Sonic never do anything the easy way? Could never keep his head down instead of showing off? Could never resist turning everything into a big game?

Briefly he considered the possibility that Eggman had faked the footage, but he didn't really believe that. It was too much like Sonic to be disbelieved - how many times had he seen the hedgehog pull the exact same stunts at the most ridiculous moments?

"Why do you care?" he snapped, belatedly realising how long he'd been standing here, exchanging pointless words with someone who was normally at least as likely to shoot at him as talk to him. "Sonic's not my problem, Eggman."

"Not yet."

Knuckles frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just that it'll be interesting to see what happens when those Emeralds do start turning up." He pressed a button and the pod rose into the sky. "Do you really think Sonic didn't _know_ they could be used to warp through time and space?"

Knuckles watched it out of sight, only realising after it was gone how soaked to the skin he now was and that he was standing there in full daylight. He headed for cover, trying to work out what Eggman was getting at, why he'd bothered to show him what Sonic had been up to. Just trying to distract him surely? That Sonic had landed them here by accident was all too believable but surely that was as far as it went? He couldn't have _wanted_ this.

But something niggled at him. Maybe it was how quickly the hedgehog had made friends with the humans, or how he'd beamed happily at Amy as she'd enthused about them 'all being here together'. Something...

Knuckles' stomach grumbled and the wind sent another sheet of rain whisking across the park. He couldn't work it out right now. He had more urgent matters than either Sonic's or Eggman's motivations. He broke into a weary run, scouring the overgrown areas of the park for anything remotely worth being called breakfast and then for a hiding place. He'd think about it later, with a clearer head.


	4. Chapter 4

Knuckles had noted it from his initial glide over the city after leaving Sonic, that glitter of blue on the horizon that meant sea coast. He hadn't consciously picked it as a direction when he eventually left the city, although he didn't regret it. He had no real means of knowing where the Emeralds had ended up after all so chance and instinct were as good a guide as any. When he was close enough he'd know, until then it did no harm to let his feet carry him to the tiniest bit of familiarity that the scatter of offshore islands represented. Away from the city's busy beaches, the ground rose gradually until he was loping along clifftops and it was empty enough of people for his to feel happy moving by daylight. The tide was low and several of what he'd taken for islands were linked by dripping causeways although none of the beachgoers from further down the coast seemed to have been inclined to visit them. Knuckles _did_ feel so inclined but checked his first impulse, doubting that instinct and then doubting the doubt itself.

It wasn't that acting on instinct bothered him, he was long used to that and doubly so when it came to matters of chaos. It wasn't his instinct he doubted, it was his judgement. Could he be certain he wasn't wasting his time here just because the view was less jarring to his eyes than the cities of this world, just because of how the springy clifftop grass felt almost comforting underfoot? Just because those tiny almost-islands would be at least _quiet_ while he searched?

He sighed. Did it matter? He had to search somewhere after all so where was the harm? Even if it was self-indulgent. He stood at the cliff edge surveying the nearest of them then leapt into a glide, letting the sea breeze hitting the cliff carry him up and over the short distance to land amid the sharp-stemmed marramgrass that fringed the little islet. Keeping his back to the mainland, he walked uphill until the bedrock out-climbed the sand dunes and he could descend the other side. It was indeed pleasantly quiet here but there was nothing for him. It was barren, waterless, no trace of an Emerald.

He moved on, back to the causeway, back to the mainland, up the coast. By sunset he'd thoroughly explored four of them and was hot and tired and frustrated. The fifth though was larger and had scrubby bushes which spoke perhaps of freshwater. The tide had long since turned and the causeways were narrowing but he could reach one more, and if as he suspected there was water, and some level of plantlife it might be a secure place to spend the night. He climbed from the causeway slowly, legs heavy with weariness and stumbling on the loose rock in a way he knew he'd never normally stumble. This pace of search was not sustainable. He knew it, but how could he not search with everything he had to get back? He pressed on. The wind direction had reversed with the cooling evening, the brisk sea breeze replaced with a gentler wind at his back as he climbed away from the mainland. It was still exposed here though. Perhaps on this rockier islet there would be a cave or sheltered overhang he could rest in. He skirted the cliff edge, thoughtfully.

Whatever cover or water or edibles might be here however, what there _wasn't_ was a Chaos Emerald. Another empty patch of land that was all. He rounded a small headland and stopped abruptly at a visual intrusion as abrupt and startlingly as if it had been a physical blow. Startlingly in its unwelcome familiarity. It was an Eggman robot - a small one, a flying drone of sorts, one of a type they'd too often encountered as basic defensive measures. It was motionless on the ground, damaged perhaps or deactivated, or neither and just waiting for his approach.

Knuckles watched it for long minutes but there was no movement and he moved closer in caution until he could be certain it was indeed damaged, half an engine was missing on the side where it lay tipped on ragged turf. The device was scorched but the grass was not and Knuckles frowned. Had it been transported here already damaged at the same time as them? What else had if so? Eggman had at least some of his resources that much was clear. Did the fact they'd all ended up relatively close to one another mean that perhaps the Emeralds weren't too far either? Did he dare hope?

As he was standing, wondering, a sound snapped his attention round, back to the seawards cliff. Sound, then movement and he was running in reaction at once. Where there was one robot they could be more and he couldn't count on any more having been finished off in advance.

Not a robot he realised as the cause of the sound broke cover, but one of the humans - also armed, raising a weapon at his approach and shouting at him to stop.

He already had too much momentum for that even if he'd been inclined to obey and Knuckles ducked beneath the line of fire of the subsequent shot and barrelled into the taller creature, sending them both to the ground, barely a yard from the cliff edge. A second bang, ear-ringingly loud at zero range made him kick out blindly even before a searing pain across the side of his chest and there was a scream that wasn't his.

Gasping, he rolled back to his feet unhindered to check on the injury. Unhindered because he was abruptly alone and after a second to regroup he leaned over the drop, hand clamped against his injured side to look down. He wasn't entirely sure why he was checking. It was more than not wanting to be ambushed. Even in his role as Guardian he'd so rarely had to kill that he discovered it was an uncomfortable thought that this time he might have without even intending it.

The drop looked survivable to him and indeed the human lay awkwardly on the rocky, narrow skirt of the islet, moving but one leg broken - visibly so even from this distance. It was a female, Knuckles noted abstractly, and she'd kept hold of her weapon in the fall, something he gave her more credit for than the fact she promptly aimed it up at his head, which he rapidly withdrew.

He stood back a step and took a longer look at his own injury. It wasn't deep. The bullet had passed beneath his raised arm to graze a bloody, scorched track across his side, a handspan below his armpit. He'd need to keep it clean but that was all. Even with the chaos energy of his link to the Master Emerald at a distant low ebb it would heal easily.

The human had come off worse. And would be worse off still when the rapidly incoming tide rose over the rocks.

Knuckles grimaced and looked back across the islet at the causeway, already ankle deep in water. If he himself was leaving here tonight he had minutes to do it. But if he hadn't intended to kill her then he couldn't very well leave her to drown and the odds of her making it up even so small a cliff with a broken leg seemed slim.

"Hey!" He approached the cliff cautiously, shouting, not being so rash as to present a target this time. "If you don't want to stay down there, throw that weapon into the sea."

No answer. Perhaps she was mulling it over.

"Tide's coming in," Knuckles pointed out.

Another moment and then a call came back.

"Okay."

Knuckles listened for a splash but really the noise of the sea against the rocks was too loud to be sure. He poked his head over carefully, ready to withdraw in a split second. The human had her hands in the air. He could see no sign of the weapon. There was a radio and an oversized pair of binoculars hanging from a strap across her shoulder, now snagged and twisted awkwardly.

He pointed. "Get rid of the radio."

She shook her head. "No radio means no pick-up. You think I want to stay out here with a broken leg? Or are you going to cart me all the way home?"

Knuckles frowned. "You're here for a reason if you have a radio. Someone will notice you haven't checked in. I don't plan on being here when that happens and I don't plan on you calling them down on me while we're stuck here waiting for the tide. Get rid of it."

She shook her head. "They won't look for days. Maybe a week. Radio silence in case it was picked up."

The first wave lapped over the rock but neither that nor the pain audible in her voice was enough to make her change her mind it seemed. She was telling the truth.

"Picked up by who?" Knuckles asked.

She looked genuinely surprised at that. "Who d'you think? Why d'you think I'm here? Watching that base of course. We need intelligence and a larger party would have attracted attention."

Knuckles looked back at the robot.

"You're watching Eggman?" But there was no base here, nothing but this tiny islet and that one broken robot. Wasn't there?

The human nodded. "You're going to claim you didn't know? That you're here by accident?"

Knuckles didn't answer. He didn't intend to make any claims at all one way or another. But if it was the truth then a week was more than ample time for her to die here if he did leave her without communications, so he sighed.

"Okay. Keep the radio. If you try and use it before I get out of here it will not end well."

She nodded. "Gotcha."

Knuckles nodded. "Fine."

Warily, he started down the cliffside. It was an easy climb but he couldn't help the unease at turning his back on the human down there.

Nothing untoward happened however and she propped herself up to a sitting position as he approached, putting them close to eye level.

"So what's the plan for getting me back up?" she asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "You hold on. I climb."

She blinked. "You'll be able to carry me?"

"Easily."

Getting started was awkward but once he was climbing there was no difficulty about carrying the human. She hung on firmly and didn't need telling not to grab his neck or spines. They arrived at the top in under a minute.

"Thanks, I suppose," she said. "Why d'you do it?"

Knuckles thought that ought to be obvious for any number of reasons. "I thought you were a robot. You're not. And this is your world not mine. And I'm no safer or closer to home with you dead than alive. And I don't need any more reasons for your people to look for me."

"Hmm. Well that's specific at least. So now what?"

Also obvious. "We wait for the tide to go back out."

Knuckles sat down at a sufficient distance to give him time to be back to his feet first should she try to close the distance. He wanted to check on his bullet wound, but didn't want to draw attention to it. It should have stopped bleeding by now but he doubted the climb had helped.

The human stared at him. "So that's it? You're just going to sit there 'til morning?"

"Yes."

If he paid attention he could sense the chaos energy distantly, a burning tingle overlaid on the injury itself but the human was interrupting again and his concentration was broken.

"I've got a cache of supplies near here. Rations, water-"

"Spare weapons?" Knuckles cut her off. "No."

She ignored this and went on. "-First aid kit. Which I personally would really appreciate the use of and you do know that _you're_ bleeding don't you?"

Knuckles grimaced but it gave him the opening to check on it himself. It was oozing more than bleeding outright, but it had been noticed after all and the woman was _still_ talking.

"You said you attacked me because you thought I was a robot. One of Eggman's? Are you absolutely sure we're not on the same side?"

"You tell me," Knuckles said. "You and yours were the ones pointing guns."

"Yeah, well giant robots and alien talking animals picking fights with the police tend to make people a bit trigger happy!"

Knuckles scowled. He had picked no fights. Eggman obviously had launched a near-immediate attack, and Sonic just didn't seem to be able to help himself or stay out of trouble. Any doubts he might still have harboured about the truth of what Eggman had shown him of the hedgehog's arrival were done away with at any rate.

The thought of the pair of them triggered a memory of something else the human woman had said.

"You said you were here watching Eggman," he said. "Where. How?"

The human looked wary.

"You want to convince me we might be on the same side, that's the way to do it," Knuckles told her.

"So you _are_ enemies?"

"He's _Sonic's_ enemy. I have other concerns. But he does seem to interfere with them frequently, yes."

"And you're not going to tell me what those 'concerns' are, right?" The human shifted position uncomfortably. "I get it. Well, for what it's worth, he's got a base out there on an island just offshore, we were monitoring with overflights but he's got something there that knocks them right down so it's kinda hard. Best we can do is the old mark one eyeball from here. Well, mark one eyeball plus the long range telescopic gear that's with my kit. We can see what comes and goes, get an advance warning, that's all."

Knuckles considered this, wondering if there was any way to ask whether there'd been any sign of Chaos Emeralds without giving away their importance. Reluctantly he decided there wasn't.

"Thank you," he said instead. "It's not much but it's information I didn't have before."

The human smiled. "So are we on the same side?"

"Neither of us is on Eggman's side." Knuckles allowed.

"Good. So about those supplies…"

Knuckles considered it. If he went himself there was little risk. She was going nowhere fast and he could simply leave behind anything he didn't like the look of. The sky was darkening fast and the combination of injury, and hunger would make it a long night.

"Tell me where it is," he allowed. "You - stay put."

* * *

Even with the supplies it was a long night. Knuckles had cleaned and bandaged the gunshot wound, but was wary of the food and warier of the human's painkillers, he took none himself and distrusted how sound asleep the woman seemed on them. How effective were they? Would she be capable of attacking him if he dozed?

He sat awake instead, watching the stars move slowly across the sky, waiting for the dawn and tide to release them from this place. The woman was still sleeping when the causeway emerged dripping from the receding tide. So deeply that it crossed Knuckles' mind to wonder - but no, she was breathing. He checked. And then he left.

Which way? He needed water, food, sleep. He needed to keep searching. If he stuck to the coast he could maybe find a river, perhaps he could fish and solve two of the problems at least. Or would the fastest solution be to raid one of the human houses? It would have to be stealthy if he did that - he wasn't in much shape for a fight. He was tired, breathless from the pace he was maintaining when it should have been easy. His breathing was too fast, too shallow, but deeper breaths made the wound on his side burn, tugged at the bandage there.

Without meaning to he reached as he always would have for the supportive energy of the Master Emerald, and missed his grasp on it as he kept missing his step on the uneven ground. Stumbling with the weariness and distance of it. So far away. Everything was harder here. Even surviving, much less decision making. He started to sink to the ground, but he if rested now without solving at least the supplies problem he'd soon be too weak to go on at all and that was not an option.

He kept walking through the morning, until engines overhead gave him pause - the woman's helicopter returning for her?

No.

Eggman.

Inbound from that island base no doubt. Knuckles considered running for the treeline, but his legs ached and dragged and in any case he remembered the man's comment about how he showed up to the tracking system. He watched his approach instead. If he wanted a fight he'd just have to do what he could.

The pod heeled round and Eggman brought it to a halt facing Knuckles who came to a reluctant stop.

"Well?" Knuckles demanded. "Now what?"

"Just curious if you've had a chance to think about what I said."

Knuckles sought for a suitably dismissive answer, something that would hide how hard he'd had to try not to, but before he'd responded Eggman was already looking him up and down.

"It certainly doesn't look as though you've _slept_ on it. "

"Shut up." Knuckles knew how unthreatening that must sound at the moment and sure enough Eggman ignored it.

"Crabby are we? Feeling a bit down in the dumps? A bit homesick maybe? It won't surprise you to hear that Sonic isn't, will it? He thinks this world's a lot more fun than ours."

"Fun?" Knuckles said flatly. On some level he knew Eggman was goading him, had to be, couldn't really have any interest in his well-being, but at the same time it was so very easy to imagine Sonic saying it. How many times had Sonic dragged him into things he claimed would be 'fun'? Nagged at him to come down from the Island, roped him into some escapade or another, acted genuinely surprised at his reluctance or his desire to be back home? Teased him about his responsibilities there.

"Fun," Eggman repeated. "And apparently, according to Sonic if we don't agree, it's our tough luck."

Knuckles shook his head doubtfully. But how many times had he lost his temper with the hedgehog and had it shrugged off?

No.

This was too much to be put down to a lark. Even for Sonic. Surely?

But Eggman was still talking. "I told you last time. Sonic knew this would happen. He found out I collected all the Chaos Emeralds because I was afraid of what he might do if he got a hold of them."

Knuckles glared at him. "Afraid you wouldn't get to do it first more likely!"

Eggman shrugged. "If _I_ was going to rip open a hole in reality I'd make rather more certain I wasn't standing at ground zero at the time, don't you think? So I set up defences. But there was no stopping Sonic. No matter who got hurt. Did he stop when the fox's plane went in? Did he help? Or did you have to do that for him?"

He didn't give Knuckles time to answer before going on.

"He was more interested in getting those Emeralds, than who got hurt for it. He destroyed my controls and sent us all here."

"By accident…" Knuckles trailed. Wanting to believe it. Sure he did believe it. Hoped he believed it.

"Believe that if you like," Eggman said, as though he'd read his mind. "But ask yourself how fast Sonic could search this world if he was _really_ trying. Why is it just you out here running yourself into the dirt alone?"

Knuckles would have answered that he'd chosen to search on his own but Eggman's pod was rising back into the air.

"Even _I've_ found one faster than he has."

"What?" Knuckles' attention snapped back to him at once, shock dispelling weariness with instant adrenaline. "What do you mean?"

But there was no answer and he was forced to watch the pod disappear, faster through the air than he could run over the terrain.

After a moment he headed off in the same direction. With no better leads, what choice did he have?


	5. Chapter 5

Knuckles was heading back to the city and that fact alone was enough to enough to bring him close to sitting down and giving up because of what it meant. It meant that he'd been wrong to rule out the city, meant he couldn't be sure his search was effective enough, couldn't be sure of finding the Emeralds even if they were right there, meant he might never find them, meant he might never get back.

He wasn't going to reach _this_ one before Eggman, which meant in spite of Eggman's words about wanting to get home himself, that he'd almost certainly have to fight him for it, and he was in no shape to.

Every instinct screamed 'keep going', every muscle and nerve screamed 'stop' and it was horribly hard to force conscious thought to override both and form a plan.

He struggled to do so anyway. One thing at a time. First: There were houses on the outskirts of the city before the urban sprawl itself began. People must live there who worked in the city. Many would likely be empty during the day as a result. He could put his pride aside, break in and get as much food and water as he needed then find somewhere safe to sleep. If he was going to have to fight for the Emerald then he had to be fresh enough to be sure of winning it.

It was early afternoon and easy to find an empty house. Most had security alarms but any number of times in and out of Eggman's bases made dodging the simple systems in use straightforward enough. He went through the cupboards, eating anything he recognised there and then, and preparing to carry away as much as he could. To his surprise he didn't have to look for a means of carrying water - the cupboards included bottles and bottles of it. He looked with concern at the tap he'd already drank a considerable amount from. Was there something unsafe about the supply then? It was too late if there was and he added the bottles to the bag he'd commandeered to carry his pilfered supplies and headed back out.

With a full stomach for the first time in days it was harder to ignore the tiredness but he pressed on into the city itself, seeking the shelter of the same sewers that had hidden so much of his initial search.

He slept like the dead and only realised the weakness in the location when he woke. In the absence of the open sky he had no idea how _long_ he'd slept. It was dark again when he climbed the ladder and cautiously peered out of the manhole, but that could mean anything from a handful of hours to more than a full day. The latter wouldn't have surprised him. He could feel in the left-over grogginess of waking and the slow heaviness of his limbs as he forced himself out onto the street, how exhausted he'd been. The bandage on his side was grubby and itched and he unwound it. The wound was scabbed and the fur matted but it no longer seemed in danger of bleeding so he left it uncovered.

The grogginess and stiffness wore off slowly as he walked, and eventually he broke into a jog. He'd slept a long time. Anything could have happened. Had Eggman found the Emerald successfully? Was he perhaps already back at his island base? Did Sonic know? Maybe Sonic had already gone after it again himself. If the human had been watching the base did _they_ already know?

It was like starting all over again.

Knuckles sighed. Perhaps the easiest way to find out was to find Sonic. He still didn't want to believe there was anything in Eggman's claims, but he had to be sure. Sonic did everything so last-minute that perhaps he really didn't understand the urgency of their getting back.

And Sonic would be easier to find than the Emeralds. Sonic was entirely incapable of lying low. Knuckles knew he could start at once with the human's news reporting. There'd been a crowd of people taking photos and during that first fight with Eggman on the roof. That would have been reported. So would any attack in search of Chaos Emeralds. Newspapers were common here, all he needed to do was find one.

It was easy, though distasteful, to fish through the waste bins on the street to find what he needed and in an already-discarded evening edition he found a full account of how a 'mysterious gemstone' had been discovered in the city. It went on to relate how Eggman had fought with Sonic over possession of it, accompanied by a dramatic camera angle of Sonic leaping at Eggman in his pod, but was unclear on who had ended up with the Emerald afterwards. Eggman had retreated but the article stated that they remained "...u _nsure whether this was in triumph or with his tail between his legs. In either case the strange blue hedgehog appears confident it's the latter and has found time in the wake of the battle to kick back and relax._ "

The article closed with a fuzzy, much magnified photograph of Sonic, stretched at length along a tree branch, eyes half open, giving a lazy thumbs up to someone out of sight on the ground below. There was a sidebar speculating about the properties of the Chaos Emerald which was mostly inaccurate. Knuckles dropped the paper back in the bin.

He wished he hadn't seen the closing photo. Eggman's words echoed in his head. How fast could Sonic search if he was really looking? But the evidence that he _wasn't_ searching was right there in black and white. He'd just either won or lost one of the Emeralds but was apparently in no hurry whatsoever to start looking for another.

Knuckles shook his head, aware that he himself had just slept the moon down twice over. Sonic could just be resting after searching every bit as hard. He'd fought Eggman at least twice since they arrived after all. But that thought didn't help because it only recalled what Eggman had claimed about that first fight back at the base. It was impossible to believe that Sonic wouldn't have _cared_ that Tails was in trouble, that was easy to dismiss. But it was equally impossible to avoid the conclusion that he simply hadn't _noticed_ in his eagerness to get inside the base.

To get to those Chaos Emeralds?

But not for _this_. Surely not for this.

Knuckles looked around the darkened city and retreated further from the main street into a grubby alley. He didn't do well in cities as a general rule, and this one he was rapidly coming to truly hate.

He needed to think and his concentration was as scattered as it had been since he had arrived here. His legs ached again already and he found himself reluctantly seeking somewhere to rest. There was no way back underground here and the alley was litter-strewn, but he dragged one of a stack of discarded metal barrels upright to sit on, promising himself it would only be for a moment. He drew up one knee to rest his elbow on, pillowed his head in his hand and tried to think without dropping off.

The picture of Sonic had been taken on the outskirts of the city, perhaps not even very far from where he'd broken in for supplies the previous morning. He recognised the kind of houses, the formal, tree-lined gardens. He could go back, search there. If human newspaper reporters could find him to take photos Knuckles was entirely sure that he could find him too. He only had to get close enough - then, like the Emeralds themselves, he hoped he'd be able to pick out the distinctive flicker of chaos the hedgehog gave off.

And then what? Ask him outright? And ask what exactly? "Hey, Sonic, are you dawdling here just for kicks and giggles while I get driven out of my wits with worry? How about you give me that Chaos Emerald you might or might not have, then get a damn move on looking for the rest? I want to go home..."

He could just imagine the mockery that would bring on.

 _Feeling a little bit homesick?_

Eggman's words but it was far too easy to hear them in the light, laughing tone the hedgehog used when he'd decided Knuckles was over-reacting to some piece of Sonic-ish nonsense.

He stifled a groan, slumping lower on his makeshift seat, because 'sick' was exactly how he felt. Fatigued and sick of this place. In the absence of Angel Island and the Master Emerald he was just not fully himself in some fundamental way that went deeper than words.

He knew he couldn't explain that to Sonic, couldn't even begin to try.

The wind stirred his quills, whisking the litter into eddies and snatching another discarded newspaper from the overflowing heap to plaster itself against his dangling leg. He pulled it free, staring once more at a picture of Sonic and Eggman. Fighting for the Chaos Emerald while he staggered about, lost.

Frustrated, he flung the paper away, watched it sail into the dark sky. Yes, he wanted to go home. Wanted it so badly that everything he saw was like a rasp against his senses because it _wasn't_ home. He closed his eyes against it, giving in momentarily to the temptation to follow the shaky winding trail of the Master Emerald's energy back to its source, back to the worlds-away Island, seeking that distant whisper of familiarity.

It was cold comfort, weak, indulgent, when he should be searching instead of sitting here. Even so, it took the sound of footsteps to stir him, the sight of Eggman to bring him leaping to his feet, still atop the barrel.

He was so rattled at being caught unaware that he might actually have attacked first this time except that Eggman had thrown himself to the ground looking positively hysterical himself.

"Please, help me Knuckles! If we don't do something fast, Sonic could make us prisoners on this planet forever!"

Knuckles stared down at him. It was an unusual viewpoint - all the humans were so unreasonable tall, he was used to glaring _up_ at Eggman, not this. But the question of who had the Chaos Emerald was presumably answered.

"What happened?" Knuckles demanded.

"I want to get us back," Eggman seemed to pull himself together. "I'm _trying_ to get us back. I found one of the Chaos Emeralds, like I told you, but when I reached it, d'you know what happened?"

Knuckles cut across him before he could answer.

"Sonic was looking for them after all?" His heart lifted. Eggman had been lying. Of course he had. But then if that was true why come to him now to tell him this?

"Sonic snatched it from me, and said he's going to stay here for as long as he pleases!"

Knuckles frowned.

"I offered him a truce," Eggman went on, looking up. "Told him we could have peace between us until this is over. Until we get home."

Knuckles stared at Eggman trying to interpret the look on his face. Trying to work out how much, if any of this to believe.

"But Sonic won't agree! He won't even give me a chance to fix things!"

Sonic didn't believe him, obviously.

Or else he _did_ and Eggman was right that Sonic was simply enjoying it here too much to leave.

Knuckles fought back his anger at the thought because in terms of his next steps it almost didn't matter much which was the truth. After days of confusion he knew what he had to do. He had to find Sonic and secure the Emerald. It didn't matter what either Sonic's or Eggman's motives were. The Emeralds were what mattered. He had to find them, keep them safe, and get them home. Sonic and Eggman could do as they liked. They weren't his problem.

He was done wracking his brains and running himself ragged over it. Sonic could either give him the Emerald he'd already found or Knuckles would take it from him.

Eggman had picked himself back up and was watching him.

"If you're thinking of asking him for it, be careful! Sonic says he'd destroy me if I tried to get it back. Me… or _anyone_ …"

Knuckles' fists clenched at his sides. He wasn't afraid of a fight with the hedgehog, but if Sonic was really determined not to give up the Emerald there'd be no avoiding an almighty, bitter showdown.

"Where is he?"

Eggman shrugged. "I don't know. He turns up when he feels like it."

"Fine." Knuckles turned away. He'd follow his original plan of searching the suburb then.

"We could send him a message," Eggman said, behind him. "Draw him out to somewhere we choose."

Knuckles turned around, frowning at 'we'. But he could hardly complain that Sonic wasn't willing to be pragmatic enough to work with Eggman long enough to get home and then turn down his help himself.

"Fine," he said again. "But I deal with him. My way. You don't interfere."

Eggman spread his hands wide. "Whatever you say."

Knuckles eyed him, suspiciously. "And not here. Somewhere outside the city. Somewhere no one else will get hurt."

If he and Sonic really set to, there would be collateral damage. Eggman might not care about that, but Knuckles did. As little as he liked the place, he had no desire to wreck the city or bring people's homes down around their ears.

"I know somewhere," Eggman said.

Knuckles hesitated. Was it safe to let Eggman choose the location? He didn't have anywhere in mind himself - the rocky offshore islands he'd explored were totally unsuitable terrain if it came to a fight. One misstep and you'd be looking at a broken ankle or worse.

He sighed.

"Alright," he said. "Show me."

* * *

It was an uneasy ride, perched on the edge of Eggman's floating pod. It wasn't the insecure seating way up in the air which bothered him - he'd ridden the Tornado the same way more than once - but the fact it was physical confirmation of the decision he'd made. A decision he still wasn't entirely sure of. A decision he'd made wrongly in the past and which had almost cost him the Master Emerald on that occasion.

What would it cost him this time if he was wrong?

What was there even _left_ to lose? The Master Emerald was already lost to him while he was trapped here. If he couldn't either persuade or defeat Sonic, then the Chaos Emerald which was the first step on the way home would be lost to him too.

It was hard to see beyond that. Vaguely, Knuckles was aware that Eggman might be lying, might want the Emeralds only for their power, might intend conquest in this world, but that knowledge felt distant, dim, a step removed. This was another world and it was impossible to focus fully on it over the yammering of his nerves screaming of the danger to his own, of the unprotected, unguarded Master Emerald. Eggman was not the only one who would misuse it given the chance and it was undefended.

Eggman was landing and the place he had chosen was unexpectedly beautiful. Knuckles looked around in surprise, wondering if Eggman even realised it.

A lake shimmered in a broad hollow of a steep sided valley, surrounded by lush plant-life, trees and shrubs. The fertile land around the lake on the valley floor gave way to rocky foothills climbing into wooded mountains and further to bare peaks.

"Like it?" Eggman asked over his shoulder. "I thought you might."

Knuckles frowned. He did like it. It was a lovely spot. But it only sharpened his desire to see his own hills again, his own lakes and trees and sky. He grunted acknowledgement without turning round, eyeing the nearest stand of shrubs and trees, bearing the last of the wild summer fruit.

Eggman was still talking and Knuckles sighed and turned back to him.

"Ready to send Sonic a message?" Eggman asked before beckoning over a small imp-like robot. "Bokkun, bring the recorder."

Knuckles stared at the device.

"Tell him it's Silver Valley. Whenever you're ready..." Eggman swept a hand towards the device, smiling.

Knuckles scowled at him. Eggman was thoroughly enjoying the fact he was stuck working with him.

Irritated, he looked back at the recorder.

"Sonic," he started but hesitated at once. What did he need to say? Want to say? _I want to go home, Sonic. Even if it's Eggman who gets us there. Please._

He shook his head. No. Not an option. Sonic would laugh and Eggman would know it for weakness. He couldn't admit anything remotely like that.

But he could admit to the anger. The frustration at this whole situation. That would get Sonic here just as effectively.

He glared into the recorder.

"Eggman told me what you said, Sonic. Is it true? 'Cause if it is, and this is just some selfish stunt then I'm sick of it! If you thought everyone would just go along with it, if you thought no one would challenge you on it, you're wrong. _I'm_ challenging you. Silver Valley. One hour." Knuckles paused then added the one thing he knew for certain Sonic wouldn't ignore. "Don't be _late_!"

He waved the little robot off curtly and turned away.

"Almost perfect." Eggman's voice had a distinct glee in it. "Bokkun, edit that and get it to the hedgehog."

Knuckles looked back, anger fading back into worry. "Edit it?"

Eggman waved a hand. "Nothing much - clearing up dead air, compression and so on. Don't worry. Sonic will get the message."

Knuckles sighed. It was too late now even if Eggman did intend to meddle with the message. And he _did_ need Sonic here so what did it really matter?

An hour. He could rest, forage, find somewhere without Eggman breathing down his neck, to watch for Sonic- he'd be able to see him coming a long way off from further up the hills.

Then they could resolve this. One way or another, with words or with blows.


	6. Chapter 6

It didn't take long for rest to become restlessness once the allotted hour had passed. Sonic should have arrived by now and there was no sign. Was it possible he didn't even care enough to show up? Knuckles held himself still against the anger, eyes shut, arms crossed, breath slow. He'd little enough energy to spare. He wouldn't waste it in pacing or fidgeting. He'd know when Sonic arrived.

And when he finally did his approach was so fast Knuckles couldn't even tell whether he'd heard or sensed his approach. The hedgehog skidded to a stop and Knuckles leapt to his feet.

"Hey there, Knuckles!"

The complete lack of concern in the hedgehog's voice sparked instant anger, driving everything Knuckles had been going to say, and ask, out of his head at once and replacing it with an angry snarl in answer.

"You're late!"

Sonic shrugged, apparently too unconcerned to even respond to the insult. "Yeah well, I stopped to enjoy the scenery. This planet is pretty cool."

Knuckles almost physically reeled backwards at Sonic's exaggeratedly casual words, his heel hitting the rock he'd been sitting on the only thing that stopped him. He hadn't believed Eggman, not entirely, not even while going along with his plan in the absence of any other options. He'd been sure right up until Sonic had spoken that the hedgehog would instantly dismiss his accusations, say something ridiculously obvious to explain it all, something that would in the same second reassure him and make him feel stupid for even doubting it.

But this…

 _Sonic thinks this world's a lot more fun than ours…_

"It's nice here," Sonic drawled as Knuckles stared at him with Eggman's words ringing in his mind. Sonic hadn't even done him the courtesy of meeting his eyes, instead absorbed in the scent of some ragged flower he'd picked up chaos-knew-where on the way.

"Yeah," Sonic went on lazily and surely that was a distinct smirk in his tone? Surely he must know what effect his words were having? "You'd like this world too if you weren't such a party pooper."

 _He says if we don't agree, that's our tough luck._

Cold shock roiled against hot fury and Knuckles raised his fists.

"Enough talk!" It was true then, and he'd heard enough. Sonic must know it could only come to a fight. "Let's go!"

"Oh relax, will you?" Sonic still hadn't faced him properly and Knuckles couldn't quite bring himself to jump the hedgehog while he was standing there, eyes closed in the sunshine, completely unprepared.

Even though Sonic clearly did expect a brawl eventually, the idea didn't appear to concern him.

"We have all afternoon to duke it out, buddy boy."

"I'm not your buddy!" How could Sonic even still use the word? "Now put 'em up!" Knuckles was getting very close to swinging at the hedgehog whether he prepared himself or not. "I didn't come here to… to..." Fury made him almost incoherent and his eyes fixed on the daisy Sonic was still twirling between his fingers, still all but ignoring him.

"...To sniff the flowers!"

Sonic shrugged. "That's your loss. You don't know what you're missing…" Finally he looked in Knuckles' direction but it only made the amused unconcern more obvious.

"But if you'd rather get clobbered by me..."

Knuckles cut off the overdue challenge. "Shut up! Give me the Emerald you stole!"

Perhaps some of the desperation as well as the anger came over because this time Sonic did at least have the grace to look briefly startled, but too quickly it was replaced by laughing dismissal once again

"Your brain's even slower than your feet." Sonic let the flower fall but was still talking. "Seriously, Knux you don't really think-"

It was one insult too many with the mocking diminutive added on top and Knuckles launched himself at the hedgehog without waiting for him to finish. He didn't really expect his first blow to land and sure enough Sonic leapt aside even in the time it took him to cover the short space between them. The next handful of blows also failed to connect with anything other than the rocks Sonic seemed intent on using as variously cover and launchpads, leaping and hopping to higher ground.

Momentarily out of reach, Sonic looked down at him with an odd, almost disappointed, expression on his face that Knuckles didn't have time to interpret before Sonic leapt clear of his attack and returned it in kind, aiming a kick at his head. Knuckles flung himself out of range, throwing out one hand to turn the hasty dive into a cartwheel back onto his feet.

To his surprise, Sonic didn't seem intent on pressing the attack, continuing to dodge and then taking off through the treeline to the cliff. Sheer momentum carried him up the near vertical surface while Knuckles scrabbled after him with claws striking chunks out of the rock and then the tree which Sonic had scooted straight up. Knuckles tore it down, catapulting the hedgehog to the ground. Sonic landed on his feet and ran again at once. Laughing. Actually laughing. Laughing and out of reach again.

Knuckles glanced up at the tall trees that surrounded them. Well if it was about reach… He struck. Trunks fell like dominoes and there was surely no way Sonic could dodge them all, but he had and he was coming back at him and he had must have finally realised this wasn't a game because as he tore towards Knuckles he dipped his head and kicked up his heels and turned the headlong approach into a spindash, spines chewing through bark as he raced down the treetrunk Knuckles had launched at him.

Those spines would chew through flesh as easily and Knuckles knew a moment's alarm because Sonic was way too close and the only reason he'd ever survived such blows before was by shoving chaos energy between them. Letting his own conscious control of the power steal the momentum from Sonic's instinct use of it and so reducing the impact to merely bruising instead of lethal.

Did Sonic know that? Did he know how weak and shaky Knuckles' grasp on that energy was here and now? It was too late to wonder, too late to dodge, too late to do anything but try, so Knuckles flung up his hands to catch the incoming hedgehog.

The air friction alone was almost enough to burn through his gloves but he hadn't been sliced in half at least. He was being driven backwards though and somewhere behind them was the cliff edge. His back foot found it, kicked for a sickening moment in mid-air and a moment later they were falling, tumbling end over end. He lost his grip on the chaos energy but the shock of falling had startled Sonic out of his spin as well and they scrambled and scuffled for the upper hand as they fell.

Their drop carried them past the base of the cliff and into one of the shallow streams that fed the lake. Knuckles leapt up and out and would have launched straight back into the attack except that Sonic shrieked in genuine panic. Instinctively Knuckles started back towards him to pull him out of the water until he realised simultaneously that; one - they were still in the middle of a fight and; two - most of the water Sonic was spluttering on was being kicked up by his own frantic flailing in the stream that was actually only waist deep.

He stood back and waited for Sonic to reach the same conclusion.

After the moment, the hedgehog hesitated. He blinked and his face fell into sheepish embarrassment.

"Oh. It's lucky I fell in the kiddie pool…"

He jumped to his feet and the bank in one movement. "Get ready, you're going down!"

Knuckles was used to how easily embarrassment became anger and he recognised it as Sonic squared up across the stream. Clearly he was done with running and dodging and ready to fight in earnest.

Knuckles nodded grimly. "Let's end this now."

Knowing he couldn't afford to let the hedgehog get even the faintest lead on him, Knuckles rushed forward. Distantly he was aware of an explosion on the other side of the lake and saw Sonic's head turn, momentarily distracted. It was too late to hesitate even if he'd wanted to and he barrelled into Sonic, landing the first solid blow of the fight and sending him flying into the air.

He'd failed to make it count though because Sonic didn't even stumble as he touched back down. Instead he accelerated away again, leaving Knuckles trailing in his wake, furious and frustrated and ignored once again. Sonic barely glanced back over his shoulder as he vanished into the shallow dip in the valley floor and whatever dismissive words he threw back were lost in the slipstream.

Knuckles pounded after him, so focussed on not losing too much ground that he only looked up at the sound of laser-fire. Looked up in time to see Sonic leap aside from the barrage from a damaged but still firing robot. Knuckles couldn't make sense of it. He'd seen no sign of the robot earlier, how could it already be damaged, and why was it involved at all? He'd _warned_ Eggman not to interfere. Eggman couldn't remotely think he needed help already, the fight was barely started. And this was no warning shot, no mere threat. Sonic dived for cover which was instantly blown away. If those shots landed he wouldn't be defeated, he'd be vaporised.

Knuckles shook his head and changed course. He leapt at the weapon ports, twisted in the air to land a heavy kick, crushing the nearest one. There were still more than enough remaining though and Knuckles bellowed up to Eggman.

"This is between Sonic and me! You said we'd handle this my way!"

" _Your_ way? You thought this was going to be some sort of clean fight?" The mockery in Eggman's voice was unmistakeable and every doubt Knuckles had had about his words flooded back. He opened his mouth to answer but couldn't find anything to say before Eggman spoke again.

"Well, Plan A for getting that Chaos Emerald didn't work so now we'll have to go to Plan B!"

Knuckles could only stare as the robot launched itself into the air and flew across the lake. Somewhere behind him Sonic gasped, sounding so honestly alarmed that Knuckles was puzzled until Eggman's next words explained it.

"Bring me the Chaos Emerald, or you'll never see your friends again!"

He had prisoners in that robot. Tails perhaps. Or Amy. Or both.

"What is this?" Knuckles heard himself say it but he already knew. This was what Eggman had counted on all along. Had assumed would happen all along. Had been working towards all along. Had led him like an idiot towards… All along.

He'd been nothing but a distraction, a means of keeping Sonic out of the way. Eggman clearly didn't even think he _could_ ever have won the fight he'd set him up for.

Knuckles could feel Sonic's eyes on his back but he couldn't make himself turn around. Didn't want to find out which of 'traitor' or 'fool' the hedgehog thought him.

"He swore to me…" Knuckles started, but he couldn't finish. It sounded so unlikely with hindsight.

The adrenaline from the fight had ebbed away and he was tired and humiliated and further away from getting home than ever and had no one to blame for it but himself. If he'd just thought a bit more clearly, paced himself better, been quicker to reach Sonic before it all started, had the sense to stay on Angel Island, where he belonged, in the first place...

Sonic spoke up and Knuckles wished he could close his ears, certain he didn't want to hear whatever he had to say, however justified.

"Eggman sure is tricky, isn't he?"

"He lied!" Knuckles still stared across the lake instead of at Sonic, unable to muster any defence other than helpless anger at being taken in.

"Yeah. Now you're catching on."

Knuckles gritted his teeth. Sonic didn't sound nearly as angry as he ought to be, but he wasn't sure he could take being laughed at any more easily than being yelled at. Although… Sonic didn't sound _quite_ as though he was laughing at him. Not exactly. Or not _only_ that.

Before he could figure it out, or bring himself to turn around, Eggman was already broadcasting another challenge across the lake, Sonic had already thrown back a scornful reply and taken off in a blur and Knuckles was again left staring after him and heartily sick of the experience.

He shook it off, abruptly. There was a fight at hand whether or not it was the one he'd thought to have. So he ran, despite the fact Sonic had already circled the lake and taken out the robot at the ankles. Ran despite being convinced he was already too late to help.

He was wrong about that too he realised when the robot lurched back to its feet, remaining weapons already glowing ominously. Sonic dashed clear, dragging Amy with him. Tails and the human boy scattering to either side and they all dove for cover.

Knuckles was running headlong now. Heedless of the blasts whistling past him, heedless of cover. Even if he didn't reach the robot, even if he was nothing but another target he had to do _something_ , because this was his fault and he'd seen it too late.

Movement that wasn't incoming fire caught his eye even through his focus and he looked round. Some new trick?

No.

Sonic. Ducking and diving and trying to find a gap in the firing to get clear of cover and rejoin the fight without leaving the others undefended.

Knuckles drew breath and called out to him.

"Let me take care of Eggman!" Knuckles skidded into a change of direction without waiting for an answer, breaking right and left to draw fire. This was his problem. He'd got them into this situation and although he was sure that given the choice Eggman would target Sonic over him, if Knuckles got close enough he knew he'd be too much of a threat to ignore. He could buy the hedgehog space to manoeuvre.

His earlier attack on the weapons port had left a gap in the firing pattern he could exploit and there would be a natural limit to how close to its own feet the robot would be able to fire given the position of the guns. Everything depended on getting close enough quickly enough, and without getting hit.

Almost as soon as he'd completed this thought he was already at the base of the robot. Eggman hovering overhead, directing it and anger drove fresh strength into Knuckles limbs. He smashed his way up the robot, brute force ripping claw-holds into the metal. Smoke and sparks poured from the machine from every gaping tear and the metal buzzed and sparked with a faint tingle of electricity under his hands.

Too late Eggman started to retreat but Knuckles was already leaping for him, already swinging with all the momentum left from his hasty, furious approach.

"You liar!" There was as much fury in the words as in the blow he struck at the pod, sending it spinning off out of control.

He landed atop the smoking, sparking, shaking robot. Electricity flickering dangerously around him and heat rose from somewhere deep inside, filling the air with a thick hot oily scent that made it uncomfortable to breathe. The whole thing was probably about to go up.

Probably wasn't good enough. Still furious as much with himself as with Eggman, Knuckles wanted the thing well and truly destroyed. Besides, it clearly had no sense of self preservation, no sense of conserving energy because the weapons were already glowing again, already taking aim again and he couldn't risk any of its dying shots hitting their target. Hitting Sonic, or Tails or Amy, or even the human boy who had nothing to do with any of this.

Knuckles drew up all the strength he had remaining, clung to that distant whisper of chaos energy, gathered it up, focussed it as best he still could, and struck.

The moment before the robot disintegrated seemed more drawn out than could be physically possible, seemed slow, lazy, silent. He'd held nothing back for escape and he was going to be in the middle of the explosion when it came.

The bang was deafening. Something struck him in the ribs and he tumbled in the air. A hot wind tore at his fur and spines and stole the breath from his throat. Instinctively he tried to right himself, but his numbed, battered limbs refused to respond and he was going to hit something. It didn't matter what. With this amount of momentum, hitting anything would be enough to finish him off.

The sense of movement stopped abruptly although the blowback from the explosion still whipped his spines about his face and shook him like a rag. He forced his head back to look at what had snagged him and found himself staring at Sonic. At a stubborn, gritted-teeth grimace. The hedgehog had a grip on his wrist that was borderline painful and the other hand clinging to a tree-branch that looked like it would give any second. Shrapnel and debris pelted past them and Sonic flinched but didn't loosen his grip as it ricocheted off his spines. Knuckles tried not to move, tried not to make it any harder, but his spines, normally an asset for gliding now only meant he was being tossed about like a kite in a hurricane.

It felt as though it took a long time to stop and they swung down abruptly slamming against the trunk of the tree.

"Oof!" Sonic grunted loudly. "Grab onto something, Knux, I think my arms are about six inches longer than they were!"

Knuckles dug the claws of his free hand into the trunk and Sonic let go of his other wrist and dropped lightly to the ground. After a second Knuckles jumped down as well. He'd have to talk to him. He'd attacked him, thought the worst of him, lured him into danger and then Sonic had ran into the middle of an explosion to get him out anyway. Had probably saved him from getting smashed to death against the cliff or skewered onto a tree branch.

Knuckles had no idea what to say and, for once, the hedgehog didn't oblige by starting the conversation. Instead he stood there waiting, a tiny smile on his face, ears pricked forward and eyebrows slightly raised. _Clearly_ waiting. For several second Knuckles could only stand there and frown. Not at Sonic. At himself, unable to summon up any words that could remotely cover the situation.

He ought to apologize, he ought to explain, he ought to say thank you but none of it would form itself into sentences he could use. He felt as though he'd left half his wits in their own world and anything he said would sound stupid and inadequate.

But Sonic was still waiting, still smiling that odd little smile and, at a loss, all Knuckles could think to do was return it. Slowly. Uncertainly. Half sure that doing so would send the hedgehog into one of his whiplash-quick changes of mood and prompt him to go on a tear explaining all the ways Knuckles had screwed this up.

But it didn't. Sonic's own smile only broadened until anything he might have been about to say was lost in the racket of the others arriving at speed.

"Sonic" Amy flung herself at the other hedgehog and Sonic's smile dissolved into a muddled mixture of embarrassment and reassurance.

"You both made it!" the human boy exclaimed as Tails beamed at them.

Sonic was grinning now, embarrassment fading as quickly as it had come. He shot a glance at Knuckles over Amy's head and winked.

"Yeah, Knuckles and I had it all under control"

Knuckles snorted and ignored the unspoken invitation to banter about it. Clearly Sonic felt in no need of explanations or apologies and that was an unexpected gift. He turned to leave, grateful for the opportunity to leave it at that.

The human boy called after him as he walked away which was easy to ignore. Less so was Amy dashing up alongside and keeping pace with him as he walked. He suspected he was not going to escape without hearing a list of his mistakes after all.

"I bet you _want_ to apologize to Sonic for believing all the lies that Eggman told about him." Amy said confidently.

Knuckles kept walking. Too close to the truth to deny and too humiliating to confirm aloud.

"And you probably want to thank him too…"

Knuckles gritted his teeth. It should have been a relief to have been wrong, and doubly so to know Sonic was prepared to overlook it, but that easy, wordless forgiveness only shone a light on exactly how stupid he'd been to suspect him.

He'd snarled at both Eggman _and_ Sonic that the hedgehog wasn't his 'buddy' when Sonic clearly did consider himself exactly that and acted accordingly, whether joking around or leaping into the line of fire. It was he himself who'd proved an unreliable ally, as he was already all too aware.

"What's the matter?" Amy continued. "Too proud to admit it?"

He whirled on her angrily - how she possibly think he had any trace of pride left to hang onto after the way he'd behaved? She flinched back from his glare and Knuckles froze in instant remorse - was he _still_ going to carry on raging at the wrong people? Amy had said only said what he deserved to hear.

He struggled with himself for a moment and forced an apologetic grimace onto his face. Amy smiled back at once with an air of having proved some sort of point and Knuckles was startled into a genuine smile of relief this time. He glanced over his shoulder at the others and raised a hand in farewell.

No one tried to stop him leaving him when he started walking again. He walked for several minutes. Long enough to be sure that he was uninjured, that none of the new array of cuts, bruises and scorches were anything worse. That nothing was going to stiffen up on him or belatedly start hurting more instead of less. Then he broke into a jog.

He'd reached the slope up to the pass at the top of the valley when the sound of rapid disturbance of the plant-life made him turn, already knowing it could only be Sonic. He must have waited long enough to start the others safely on their way back then followed him after all.

"Wait up…"


	7. Chapter 7

_"Wait up…"_

Knuckles didn't want to wait. He wanted to turn and snap at Sonic that there wasn't _time_ to wait, that he'd wasted enough time already. But he couldn't. "Wait," was the very least Sonic was entitled to demand of him. He glanced sideways at hedgehog, loping alongside him.

Sonic smiled lightly. "Or we can talk on the go. Whatever."

Knuckles returned his eyes to the trail. He hadn't realised it _was_ a trail. He'd thought he was just following the easiest route, but it was a path and that's how Sonic had followed him. He'd been distracted. Careless. Predictable.

"Why did you follow me, Sonic?" That came out brusquer than he'd intended and he glanced warily at Sonic again. The hedgehog was frowning but didn't sound angry when he spoke.

"You got blown up, in case you missed it. We were about to go back, then Amy asked how my head was after the blast and…"

Sonic trailed off and, surprised, Knuckles looked at him properly. Sonic smiled again and shrugged, looking - as far as Knuckles could tell - mildly embarrassed. "Well, I suddenly thought someone should probably check you weren't in a heap somewhere with concussion or something."

"I'm not."

"Yeah. I can see that." Sonic fell silent again but continued to keep pace with him. Knuckles couldn't think of anything to say to either continue or end the conversation. Was this the right chance to apologise? He lined up various phrases, trying them out in his head but Sonic spoke again first.

"Look…" he said. "Knuckles... Are you okay?"

Knuckles came to a halt. Sonic stopped a second later and a few steps ahead.

"I just said I was," Knuckles pointed out.

Sonic shook his head. "You said you weren't in a heap somewhere. There's a bit more to being okay than that y'know?"

Knuckles looked at him. Sonic didn't look back straight away, instead flicking a twig over and over with the toe of his sneaker. After a moment, he kicked it away and met Knuckles' eyes.

"Not trying to crowd you but… It's just… if something was up with Tails I'd know. And if I'd upset Amy half the planet'd hear about it. You though…" He shook his head. "I mean I totally get why you want to search for the Emeralds your own way. I totally get that the city's not your scene. What I don't get…"

Sonic stared at him again then shrugged without finishing.

"Look…" he said again. "Just tell me if I've ticked you off. Or tell me Eggman span you a good story. Or he blackmailed you. Or, I dunno, brainwashed you with some robot-y ray we didn't know about. Anything. Something that's done with, that's over, that we can forget about. That we're cool now. Or tell me what's _wrong_. 'Cause I'm not getting much of an 'okay' vibe here."

"It's not over, Sonic!" Knuckles tried but couldn't stop himself. "We're nowhere close to getting home - do you even-" He caught himself with abrupt realisation, forced himself to keep looking at the hedgehog, not turn away, though sudden shame burned on his face.

"Eggman said you weren't even trying to get back," he muttered. "He said you brought us here on purpose and you'd stop us going back."

"Why would I do that?" Such total astonishment filled Sonic's voice and face that Knuckles wanted to dig himself into the forest floor there and then and never look anyone in the face ever again. He was a fool. An idiot. Every stupid thing Sonic had ever called him and the hedgehog was still talking.

"Cream's family are back there. All Amy's friends. Everything Tails has ever worked on - he loves the setup he's built there. Everyone we know is back there… You can't think I'd swap that _forever_ just for a jolly?"

He stared at Knuckles who needed all his self control not to look away as Sonic went on.

"I mean, you've gotta be missing that island of yours, right? It's not like you'd swap-"

But Knuckles had flinched involuntarily at the mention of the Island and Sonic stopped talking. His expression changed.

"Oh. That's what's eating you?" Sonic didn't wait for an answer. "You really are homesick, aren't you?" He shook his head. "Sorry, Knuckles, but you can't just let Eggman know that kinda stuff - he will play you like-"

"I can't help it!" Knuckles cut across him. There was sympathy in Sonic's voice but no understanding. Knuckles had no idea how to make him understand. Not without humiliating himself further. "It's…"

He grimaced. "Yeah, it's 'eating me'."

Sonic also pulled a face. "Hmm. You make that sound a lot more sinister. Okay. What can I do?"

"Nothing." Why did Sonic even assume there was anything he could do? "Just… We have to get back. Find those Emeralds and get back."

Sonic smiled. "I'm on that."

Knuckles nodded wearily and let his gaze slide away from Sonic's.

"Thanks," he said after a moment. "For grabbing me when the robot blew up."

"No problem." He could hear the smile in Sonic's voice. "Thanks for blowing it up."

Knuckles shrugged, thoroughly embarrassed, and his voice fell back to a mutter. "Seemed the thing to do."

Sonic chuckled. "Totally! Maybe without the standing on it at the time though. So where are you going next?"

"I don't know." But the mention of it prompted Knuckles to start moving again. Sonic kept step with him.

"You hungry?"

"What?" Knuckles turned to stare because that had come out of nowhere.

"You want to grab a snack first?" Sonic's tone suggested he thought this a perfectly ordinary suggestion. Knuckles looked around them, pointedly.

"You see many junk food stalls around here, Sonic?" He'd said it without thinking, by reflex, and he screwed up his face in remorse- he was already snapping at Sonic again?

But the hedgehog was smirking when he looked at him.

"I've got a bigger radius for 'round here' than you, Knux, buddy. I can be out to the nearest chillidog stand and back again before the snacks are even cold." The smirk became a grin. "Or you can do some awesome guardian-ing, hero-of-the-wilderness-ing and pluck us something from a hedge that doesn't suck."

Knuckles repeated this wording to himself with incredulity, shaking his head slowly, but the utter unconcern in Sonic's tone was strangely calming.

"There's fruit," he admitted. "We're almost too high for it and they're probably getting over-ripe."

Sonic waved off these disclaimers. "That'd be a start."

Knuckles changed course, loping back along the curve of the hill to return to the scrubby bramble and berry bushes he'd seen earlier. Sonic followed willingly enough at first but as Knuckles started gathering the blackberries, haws and sloes, he baulked

"Hey! Ow!" he protested, glaring at the thorny stems as if they'd actively attacked him when he'd reached for the berries. "Y'know, Knux, when you said 'fruit' I had in mind something like a nice fat pear or some ripe apples…"

Knuckles shrugged. "This is what there is."

"Huh." Sonic pulled a thorn from the back of his glove and held up a single hawberry between his finger and thumb. "This is going to take forever." He stuck in it his mouth and made a face. "They're not even that great. Tell me this isn't what you've been living on? How do you even manage to get them without getting prickled to death? Can we revisit the 'junk food' idea?"

Knuckles ignored all but the second question from this flurry. "You gather them by being _careful,_ Sonic. Anyway," he ventured a jab, "I'd have thought hedgehogs were in favour of prickles."

"Oh very funny." Sonic flicked one of the hard, little fruits at him in disgust which only made Knuckles relax a little bit more.

"Here." He gestured for Sonic to hold out his hand and deposited half a dozen blackberries into it. "These are the sweet ones."

"Yeah. I do at least know blackberries." Sonic tasted one then gulped the rest. "They're pretty good. Thanks."

He tapped a foot as Knuckles rummaged further in the scrub. "But I still want a proper meal. Come back to Chris' place with me and grab something."

This caught Knuckles sufficiently by surprise to make him turn too quickly. Blackthorn spines raked his leg and he had to fight to stop himself glaring at Sonic, who had winced, clearly not having meant for that to happen. Sonic didn't comment on his clumsiness however, instead going on with the conversation.

"You can pick up any supplies you want, have a proper rest…" Sonic's eyes narrowed. "Clean up whatever that is you've managed to do to yourself under your arm there that you're not telling me about…"

Knuckles' hand had gone to the healing gunshot on his side before Sonic had finished speaking, too startled by this unexpected observation to stop himself.

Sonic didn't comment on his reaction either. "Call it reconnaissance if you like," he went on. "You're just finding out where me and that Chaos Emerald are in case you need to come and punch my lights out for it further down the line."

Regardless of the sarcasm lurking behind Sonic's light tone, Knuckles could appreciate the face-saving intent of his wording.

"Am I likely to need to?" he asked, carefully matching the hedgehog's mostly-joking tone.

Sonic shrugged. "You tell me, buddy."

"All right."

Sonic frowned. "Is that 'all right' to the telling, the punching, or the visiting?"

Knuckles' muzzle twitched in involuntary amusement that had almost become unfamiliar.

"Yes."

Sonic's outrage at this level answer was predictable, but when he turned in exasperation and headed back down the track, it was at a pace that Knuckles knew he could match. A pace that was an invitation. An invitation as unspoken as the apology Knuckles still hadn't managed to find but that was also there nonetheless. Knuckles watched him for a second or two, glanced up at his original route and back at the hedgehog, then stirred his weary limbs into a run once more.

He caught up easily and Sonic gave him a sideways glance and a wink before wordlessly picking up the pace just enough to be considered a challenge. Knuckles matched it - Sonic's antics were familiar and even though Knuckles' tired body protested, the rest of him welcomed that familiarity. He needed all the familiarity he could get so far from home.

He have to return to the search for the Emeralds soon enough. Every nerve in his body insisted upon it. But he could take this one brief rest and let familiar company - for however short a time - stand in for familiar ground.

-END-


End file.
